The Pakistan Cricket Board wants the ICC to assure visas for its players and officials for the T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled in India for October next year. Wasim Khan, the PCB’s chief executive, said his board expects a response by January 2021 at the latest.
Khan also confirmed that there was little likelihood of an India-Pakistan bilateral series taking place in the “foreseeable future”, and neither would any such series be part of the fresh Future Tours Programme (FTP) that starts in 2023.
Relations between the two neighbours have been tense, which is why the PCB has sought assurance that the visa process of their players and support staff will be dealt with by the ICC.
“This is an ICC matter. We have discussed our concerns,” Khan told PTI. When the Host agreement is taken into consideration then Pakistan is not among the teams who are listed to get accommodated or get visas by the hosting nation of the T20 WorldCup.
The matter has been taken to the ICC and now ICC will get in touch with BCCI as the final agreement and decision will be coming from there.
Khan also said that if there was a problem with getting visas, then the PCB expected the ICC to take that up directly with the Indian government through the BCCI.
It is reported that the expected deadline would be December-January for the ICC to solve this matter and get back to PCB and let them know whether their players will be getting visas to participate in the tournament.
The PCB wants the ICC to directly resolve this matter with the BCCI and the Indian Government.
The participation of Pakistani athletes in global events held in India has historically been a contentious matter. Last year, Pakistan’s shooters could not get visas for a World Cup in Delhi. The fraught relations between the two countries has also made bilateral series almost impossible, a fact that Khan acknowledged. Khan spoke up and said that we’ve to be realistic about India and Pakistan bilateral series and therefore BCCI must get permission before they will play Pakistan in any bilateral series, home, away or maybe on neutral venues.
There’s a lot of cricket between the countries but unfortunately for the fans and players we might not be seeing any bilateral series is the near future. So there is no current planning that we can factor into the next FTP (2023-31) unless circumstances and viewpoints of the Indian government change.”